Players must navigate their Miis through a variety of obstacles using the GamePad's stylus, getting as far as they can through the aerial obstacle courses. The GamePad itself shows a close up view of the player's Mii while the TV gives a wider perspective of the level.

Your balloons represent your health. With every life, you get two balloons. If they are both popped, you fall into the ocean, and you lose a life.

A second player can join in to help the Gamepad player. If a second player points at obstacles in the game and press the A button, the obstacles are destroyed! If the second player tries to hit a balloon or bubble, they are only able to nudge them.

Your balloon-popping enemies are your biggest threats. The come in a few different varieties.

Bricks - While they won't pop your balloon directly, they'll halt your progress if you don't break them on the touchscreen

Spikes- Like the brick blocks, these can be broken. However, direct contact with them will pop your balloons. Be careful!

Fish - Watch out! These fish have quite the appetite. It would be best if you didn't tease them by hovering too close to the water...

Balloon Fighters - Your run-of-the-mill enemy fighter. You have the advantage over these guys, since they only have one balloon. Make sure you maintain the high ground so they don't pop your balloons first!

Double Balloon Fighters - Distinguished by their brown coloring, these fighters have 2 balloons, just like you. It also seems like they have a bit more intelligence than the average fighter.

Boxing Balloon Fighters - These gloved contenders take a slightly different line of attack, aiming to take you down with punches instead of kicks.

Speared Balloon Fighters - These sharp birds once in their sight will ram your mii with a red spear. They are basically a boxing Balloon Fighter with a spear and no gloves.

Bombardier Balloon Fighter - These dastardly enemies turn the tables on you, preffering to take to the high ground and drop bombs on your head as they pass.

Eggs - Most enemies start off as these, and if you can get to them before they hatch, you can get rid of them instantly.

The Stopwatch: This stopwatch will slow down time for about 5 seconds. Enemies and other obstructions won't be able to touch you. This even affects the screen's scrolling speed, so its perfect for when you want to snag a few extra balloons.

The Present: Special Delivery! Pick this up slows you down and makes you les maneuverable,but the bonus it gives you once you touch down will be worth the trouble.

Iron Ball: An item that can be picked up after a level ends. It destroys anything it touches in one touch. The con is that it weighs you down.

Tablet: Comes only in bubbles and makes you smaller allowing you to avoid obstacles easier.

The Blue Box: It is basically a bomb. It destroys everything except your mii.

Every stage ends on an island with a podium with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place label on it. You can land on the island to end the stage, but you won't get the extra Bonus Points from landing on the higher goals. The stage stops scrolling once you reach this point, so feel free to take your time and touch down gently. 1st place is 50 points, 2nd is 30, and 3rd is 15 points.

Balloon Trip was a single-player challenge on the NES game "Balloon Fight" that tasked you to flap your balloon man's arms to direct him up and down an endlessly scrolling obstacle course of spikes that, uniquely, scrolled from right to left. Below the hovering spike traps in the sky was an ocean surface, and underneath that ocean surface was one gigantic, hungry fish who'd hop up to swallow you whole if you got too close to the water.